James Kon
Brunei Darussalam has detected four new imported COVID-19 cases, including a 10-month- old infant, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 180.
With the new imported cases and one recovered case, there are seven active COVID-19 cases receiving treatment at the National Isolation Centre (NIC) in the Tutong District. All patients are in stable condition.
The updates were revealed in a press conference by Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar yesterday.
“Case 177 is a 10-month-old baby who arrived in Brunei Darussalam on the Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) BI4112 flight from India on January 15.
“Case 178 is the 26-year-old aunt of Case 177. She also arrived in Brunei Darussalam on January 15, on the RB BI4112 flight from India.
“Case 179 is a man aged 28, who arrived in Brunei Darussalam on the Singapore Airlines SQ148 flight from Indonesia via Singapore on January 15.
“Case 180 is a woman aged 29, who arrived in Brunei Darussalam on the Singapore Airlines SQ148 flight from Dubai via Singapore on January 25.
“All of the new cases are being monitored and treated at the NIC, and the contact tracing for these cases is still being conducted.
“The Ministry of Health (MoH) has found an increase in the trend of reported COVID-19 infection cases in the country, where all of the cases are imported. This is in line with the increase in COVID-19 cases worldwide.
“However, with the strict measures implemented at Brunei Darussalam’s borders, such as quarantine and laboratory tests we have been able to control the infection from spreading in the country,” Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said.
With the detection of the new cases, a total of 39 imported cases have been confirmed. Since the last local infection case reported on May 6, 2020, the Sultanate has recorded 267 days without local transmissions.
One previous case treated at the NIC has recovered, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 170.
A total of 599 individuals are undergoing mandatory self-isolation at the monitoring centres provided by the government, having just arrived from abroad. At present, 12,008 individuals have completed their mandatory self-isolation at monitoring centres.
In the past 24 hours, 515 samples have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which brings the total number of laboratory tests conducted since January 2020 to 90,972.
The MoH urges the public to practise their social responsibilities during this pandemic. Additionally, the public is advised to be equally responsible by ensuring not to violate the regulations and directions issued during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Updates can be obtained at www.moh.gov.bn, or by contacting the Health Advice Line at 148 or through the BruHealth app.